London Inc. Weekly: A summary of regional business news from the past week

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Weekly Regional Business Intelligence

Written by Kieran Delamont, Associate Editor, London Inc.

Business Cares Food Drive “an unqualified success”

The equivalent of 683,000 pounds of food (in food and cash donations) was compiled by this year’s Business Cares Food Drive, a record result for the 25th iteration of the campaign. “We can say that this year’s campaign is an unqualified success,” said campaign chair Wayne Dunn (pictured) at the Drive’s Thursday morning wrap-up event at the Western Fair District Agriplex. “We know Londoners are struggling with the ongoing ramifications of employment challenges, issues caused by food inflation and higher costs of living. But despite all that, Londoners showed the depth of their resolve to support those who need it most. I say it every year, because it’s always proven true ― London businesses, employees and citizens always answer the call when people are in need.” Business Cares did not set a target goal at the outset of the drive, however the results were up by nine per cent over 2023’s total of 627,000 pounds collected. The proceeds of the drive will go to the London Food Bank, which in turn supports 40 social agencies operating 70 food programs in the London area.

The upshot: Given difficult economic conditions and surging demand (over the past five years demand has doubled at the London Food Bank and has risen another six per cent in 2024), the collection efforts of the Business Cares program can’t be understated. Jane Roy, co-director of the London Food Bank, echoed Dunn’s sentiment and said that this year’s drive is going to make a difference for so many in our community. “Each and every year, I talk to the campaign team and say that we’re thrilled with anything that we receive,” said Roy. “The agencies with whom we work are seeing increased need from the community and results today show how supportive our community is.”

Read more: LinkedIn | London Free Press

Colleges warn of potential strike in new year

Faculty at Ontario’s colleges will be in a legal strike position as of January 4, after OPSEU requested and received a no-board report this week, signalling a breakdown in talks. The two sides said they plan to return to the bargaining table on January 6 and 7, but thus far talks do not sound like they have been particularly fruitful. The union says the College Employer Council has made “no real progress towards a contract which improves the working lives of college faculty,” while the employer says that the union’s demands “ignore the stark reality faced by Ontario colleges, who are projected to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in the coming years due to a combination of declining enrolment and higher cost.” So, it sounds like the two are at an impasse for the time being. In October, faculty members voted 79 per cent in favour of a strike mandate.

The upshot: Labour issues among college faculty are nothing new ― there are always fights to be had over things like workload, contract status, benefits and job security when it comes to academic jobs ― but the financial impact from the international student cap is really the root cause of the current conflict, with some colleges already starting to cut positions and programs and others threatening that they will need to in the near future. OPSEU has complained about a lack of transparency here, too ― according to the union, the colleges are making noise about the financial difficulties without being very forthcoming about the details. “Despite repeated, unmet requests for appropriate disclosure in response to federal and provincial decisions,” colleges are “implementing imposed terms and conditions that will negatively impact students’ education,” OPSEU said in a statement. So, by the sounds of it, it looks like a faculty strike could well be starting before the winter term begins.

Council endorses expansion to urban growth boundary

In a 10 to five vote, city council has approved a plan to study adding nearly 1,500 hectares to the urban growth boundary, adding land that it says will help the city keep up with the population growth expected over the next 30 years. The amount of land being studied for addition (1,476 hectares, to be exact ― an amount approved earlier this month by the planning committee) is a bit more than the 1,100 hectare recommendation that city staff originally brought forward, a bit less than the 2,000 hectares recommended by a Colliers report, and much less than the roughly 3,000 hectares that the London Development Institute said in the past that it felt was necessary.

The upshot: Council also voted to approve a proposal to ask the province to look at the 2,000 hectare recommendation brought forth by Colliers ― though that was a much tighter margin, only passing by eight votes to seven, suggesting that councillors are not necessarily completely at ease with the speed at which land would be added to the urban growth boundaries. One of the main proponents of moderation is Ward 6 Councillor Sam Trosow, who has argued that the city should be more cautious when it comes to adding land like this. “We can always add to it, but we can’t subtract from it,” he said at a committee meeting earlier this month. At this week’s council meeting he repeated his concerns, warning that “if we overshoot, we can push it forward, but we can’t take it back.” Developers and housing advocates say the new land will help build housing faster; critics say the move reflects too much developer power at city hall, and is unlikely to impact housing affordability all that much.